Banned Books Week 2025 ~Christy Mihaly

We're in the middle of Banned Books Week. 

This year, banned books really need a week. Or a month or more. 

What is Banned Books Week? 

Banned Books Week is a time to "highlight the value of free and open access to information" and fighting censorship. The coalition of organizations sponsoring it work to defend our freedom of expression: The American Library Association (ALA), Authors Guild, PEN America, and many others. The 2025 theme is "Censorship Is So 1984."

Censorship is Rampant and Common -- especially in schools

Book banners target children's books in particular. PEN America's 2025 report on school book bans focuses on actions that make books unavailable to students based on their content. It found 6,870 instances of bans during the 2024-25 school year. Since 2021, it has recorded 22,810 instances of school book bans, across 45 states and 451 school districts.

Obeying in Advance

Many books disappear from the shelves when a school is "investigating" -- not pursuant to an official review process or legislative action, but rather because someone is worried that they'll get into trouble if they leave the book on the shelf. This "obeying in advance" locks books up based on fear, not facts. And the books stay locked up -- books removed in 2022 are still inaccessible today.

Fear-based "soft" book bans happen at all levels. I wrote a picture book about a dog, Patches, whose family has a new baby. It's called Patience, Patches! and it's about learning to love a younger sibling. As shown in the appealing illustrations by Sheryl Murray, the parents, whom the dog calls his "loud-laughing person" and his "soft-singing person," are both moms. Teachers have told me that even though students in their classrooms have two moms, I should not bring Patience, Patches! when I visit their school. They don't want to get into trouble. Of course I don't want these dedicated educators to get into trouble either. 

But ... Think of the kids! Think of the Constitution! What are we doing?

If you're a writer, a reader, a thinker who values free speech and open access to information, what can you do? Some suggestions: 

Educate yourself -- find out how you can help

• Know what's going on at your local schools and libraries. What process do librarians and those they report to follow when someone objects to a book? Some have forms to complete and committees to evaluate challenges. Others don't. Increasingly, those on the front lines are scared. Ask your librarian how you can stand with them. Show up at school board meetings or library board meetings? Write letters? Picket? PEN America has documented rising resistance to censorship as people learn more and stand up to show how access matters.

• Find out if your state has adopted a Right to Read Law, protecting access to diverse materials in public schools and libraries. If not, is someone sponsoring such a bill? Can you get involved? Visit the NCTE blog for information about legislation to protect the freedom to read.
• For more resources, visit the ALA advocacy page about the First Amendment and censorship.

Sign the Pledge

EveryLibrary is an organization building voter support for libraries. They invite you to sign this pledge this week, agreeing to vote in favor of libraries and the freedom to read. 

Attend Events

Every Library is hosting online panels, discussions, and presentations about banned books all week long. Check the schedule and join in. Or join a Right to Read Night.

Read Banned Books

And last but not least, READ FREELY. Reading banned books is activism. When censors prevent books from reaching readers, they seek to control their thoughts, or keep them from thinking. 

So -- read banned books. Read banned kids' books to children. 

Here are some titles recommended by GROGgers that appear on the current banned books lists: 

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is of course a classic that has been banned many times over many years. It is currently banned by the Monroe County, Tennessee, schools.

The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas, a coming-of-age novel inspired by the Black Live Matter movement, is under numerous bans, including in districts in Florida, Texas, Utah, Colorado, Iowa, and Tennessee.

Books in the popular The Hunger Games series were banned this year in Tennessee and Texas.

They Called Us Enemy, George Takei's graphic memoir (with Justin Eisinger et al.) of his time in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, is banned in Monroe County, Tennessee. 

And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson, an adorable and fact-based picture book about a pair of male penguins who adopt an egg (and the hatched chick), has been a frequent target of banners. It is now banned in Tennessee (Monroe County), "banned pending investigation" in Florida, and "banned by restriction" in a North Carolina school district.

Other frequently banned books: 

• The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
• The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
• Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe
• The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
• Looking for Alaska, John Green
• Water for Elephants, Elana K. Arnold

Some of the classics you can hardly believe they banned:

• Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, Judy Bloom
• Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
• Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
• The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
• The Wizard of Oz, Frank L. Baum

And announcing the winner of the 2025 Irony Award: 

Three school districts have recently seen fit to ban George Orwell's 1984. If you can't read about it, it isn't happening, right?

For more banned book titles, check out PEN America's database. 

And please don't believe it when you hear bans are "good" for authors -- they are terrible because they keep our books out of the hands of the readers that we're writing for. And no, censorship does not increase sales. Bans remove books from shelves.

Thank you for reading!